Niantic has revealed that trading will soon be coming to Pokémon GO, letting you trade critters with anyone added to your friends list. Trading has been a staple of the Pokemon series since its origin, and the feature has been long requested in Pokémon Go. The update is adding a whole suite of new ways for you to interact with friends, but to take advantage of this, you and your friends will need to have added each other in the game. We don't know when exactly the update will drop, but it'sdefinitely coming within the next month so you'll want to make sure you're prepared. In this article we'll teach you how to add friends in Pokémon GO.

How to add friends in Pokémon GO

Once the trading update has arrived in Pokémon Go, you'll be able to add friends in Pokémon GO. To start, head to the trainer screen by tapping the character portrait on the bottom left of the screen. Here you'll be able to access a new Friends tab at the top of the screen or by swiping across to it. This will list all your current friends as well as a bit of information on their recent activities. From here, select the Add Friend button and you'll be able to enter a friend code.

To add as friends, both you and your buddy can send each other requests, or one can send the request and the other will be able to accept it. Once you've shared your codes with each other and accepted the requests, you'll see your friend's name appear on your friends list. Congratualtions, you've just added your first friend in Pokémon GO!

The more you team up with your friend to take on Raids and Gym battles, or trade gifts and Pokémon, the higher your friendship level will grow. You should aim to increase this as much as possible, because trading Pokémon between good friends is a lot less costly, especially for the rarer types.

Henry Stenhouse serves an eternal punishment as the Associate Editor of AllGamers. He spent his younger life studying the laws of physics, even going so far as to complete a PhD in the subject before video game journalism stole his soul. Confess your love of Super Smash Bros. via email at henry.stenhouse@allgamers.com, or catch him on Twitter.